“Fuga dai campi”? Dinamiche migratorie e lavoro agricolo nel nord-ovest italiano

The article focuses on the recruitment of immigrants and their conditions of employment in the agricultural sector in Italy. The authors discuss the results of a qualitative research carried out in two areas in the province of Cuneo (North-Western Italy): the fruit district of Saluzzo and the wine district of Alba. The analysis shows that these two local production systems share some convergent features, made even more evident by the Covid-19 emergency: a recent increase in asylum seekers and refugees among workers, a high turnover and episodes of labour exploitation, housing difficulties and problems in accessing welfare services. An apparent paradox emerges: despite a growing demand for seasonal workers, many people leave the fields and vineyards when they have the opportunity to do it. Foreigners who have settled for several years and in conditions of greater stability re-emigrate; refugees and asylum seekers recently arrived choose the agricultural work only as a survival strategy, within fragmented and uncertain trajectories.